La femme heroique

Overview

La femme heroique, ou les heroines comparées avec les heros en toute sorte de vertus : Et plusieurs reflexions morales à la fin de chaque comparaison is a two volume French book authored by Jacques Du Bosc. The book was published in 1645 by Antoine de Sommaville in Paris, France and currently resides in the University of Pennsylvania’s Kislak Center for Special Collections. This book is premised on the idea that men and women hold equal virtues. It is considered to be one of the greatest feminist literary works of seventeenth century France.

Background

Historical Context

Importantly, La femme heroique was published in the middle of a crisis and transformation within the book industry in France. After the French Wars of Religion(1562-1598), the economy of France destabilized, heavily impacting the book industry. During this time, there was a lack of books being printed, as was expressed by the Postman of the Plantinian Press Théodore Reinsart:

“I could not chase the people out of the room where they were books and sometimes there were as many as 50 people there together” because of the low supply of books available to the people in France.

Additionally, the few books that were being printed were made with cheaper materials. The book-making industry turned to smaller amounts of gelatin and calcium in the papermaking process, thinner paper when publishing books, copper engravings for illustrations instead of wood engravings, and even developed a new book format known as the duodecimo, which saved costs due to its smaller size. On top of the cheaper quality, these books were also not being circulated outside of their respective regions due to the economic hardship in France. For example, numerous 17th century testimonies corroborate that books published in Paris could not be imported for circulation in other parts of France.